Ask a city expert and they’ll make the case: It’s not a lack of parking that ails downtown Long Beach. It’s a lack of drivers willing to pay for it.
A new report released by the Long Beach Public Works Department on June 30 found that two of the city’s three public garages — the ones at 50 E. 6th St. and 50 E. 5th St. — are consistently left mostly vacant, even through the crush of some major events, summertime weekends and holiday bonanzas.
An analysis found that the two lots averaged just 26% and 42% occupancy during weekend evenings in 2025. City Place C, the southernmost garage at 50 E. 3rd St. and closest to the Promenade’s restaurants and nightlife, averaged 69% occupancy and occasionally filled up during special events.
“There’s plenty of capacity in those facilities,” said Willie Walker, a parking and mobility officer with Long Beach Public Works. “If you’re saying there’s no parking, then these hundreds of parking spaces disagree with you.”
At the behest of the City Council, the department has come up with some ideas to make the underused garages more appealing.
It comes as tens of thousands of visitors are expected to descend on downtown for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, forcing the city to confront one of urban California’s most persistent headaches: where to park the car.
Proposals are simple and relatively easy to roll out, Walker said.
Of the ideas, a valet storage system where permitted operators can drop off cars during events and parking validations for nearby businesses that might feel a lack of street parking hurts their bottom line. They could even set up a shuttle service stop at the garages for events like weddings.
The report also determined that high-density parking lift systems, which stack vehicles vertically to multiply capacity, are not viable since the city has nowhere to put them.
The city is also eyeing technology upgrades. The Pike and Aquarium garages already accept Apple Pay and Google Pay, but the City Place facilities do not. Automated monitoring of commercial loading zones — where double-parked delivery trucks frequently snarl traffic — is also under consideration to free up street parking.
Major events at the Queen Mary or new amphitheater generally have enough parking between the 3,000-space Convention Center garage, the 2,400 spots at the Pike Outlets and 1,500 spaces at the city aquarium, Walker added.
But larger events are on the horizon. When Warped Tour arrives later this month, it’s expected to bring around 55,000 attendees daily. Walker said every available parking asset in the city will be pushed to its limits, with the Pike’s 1,000 spaces already fully pre-sold for both days.
For now, the $2-per-hour rate at the City Place garages — unchanged for roughly a decade — remains among the more affordable options in Southern California. That rate is expected to increase soon, Walker indicated, as the city looks to reinvest parking revenue into facility maintenance, signage and security improvements ahead of the Olympics — what is promised to be the city’s largest flex test in years.